The Fox affair

Share via

In this government, the wrong people are given access to sensitive material while many of the right people are kept away

Sir, One vital aspect of the Fox affair (“No
doctor in the house so they got Walter Mitty”, Oct 13) has not received
the attention it deserves. It concerns the way in which ministers, including
the Prime Minister, bring advisers into government and into contact with
sensitive national security secrets.

Contrary to received wisdom, advisers are not subject to “developed vetting”
by the Defence Vetting Agency or any other official vetting agency (there is
more than one) and are not required to be. This is outrageous. There are the
most serious national security implications in current practice as cases